Another Night, Another Day
by AiMei85
Summary: Being close to the center of the war had been hard enough, but its aftermath had left the wizarding world in shambles, and there were precious few willing to help put the pieces back together.


Title: Another Night, Another Day

Rating: PG13 (?) for angst and adult themes

Pairing: HG/RW

Warnings: allusions to character death, angst

She dragged herself into the room. It had been a harrying and long day, and she desperately needed the comfort of her warm bed. To be honest, nothing had been easy since they had left Hogwarts. Being close to the center of the war had been hard enough, but its aftermath had left the wizarding world in shambles, and there were precious few willing to help put the pieces back together.

She shucked those thoughts along with her clothes. Eyes barely open and wearing only her knickers, she riffled through the dresser drawers until she found one of his shirts. She took a moment to smell the worn material before pulling it over her small frame. She grabbed a ponytail holder from the top of the dresser and hastily pulled up her hair before falling on top of the bed and pulling the sheets around her. She took another long breath, nose buried in his shirt, before falling asleep wrapped in his scent.

"Baby?" hot breath whispered in her ear. She shivered and giggled from the tickling sensation. "Are you awake?"

"No," she said petulantly before snuggling deeper in her cocoon.

"Hmm, I don't believe you," the amused voice replied. A soft finger traced the shell of her ear and caused her to shiver again. The warm hand ghosted down her neck and began tracing nonsense patterns on her shoulder. She felt the warmth of a body sliding between the sheets behind her and she purred contentedly. "Is that one of my shirts?" his voice smirking.

"Mmhmm," she murmured.

"Why do you always wear those old things?" His long fingers continued to gently worship her arm.

"Smell like you," she mumbled sleepily. His long nose nuzzled the skin behind her ear and he kissed her pale neck. The fingers that had stroked her arm began to move over her ribs lightly causing her to squirm. She grabbed his hand and interlaced his long fingers with her small ones. "Stop." His deep chuckle vibrated in his chest behind her.

"What if I don't want to?" he teased and kissed the junction of her neck and shoulder, which lay exposed in his large shirt, as he disentangled their fingers and continued to caress her side. She nudged him away and rolled over to face him in the dark.

"Then no more chocolate frogs for a month," she threatened as she ran her thumb over his rough and unshaven cheek.

"Evil woman." He kissed her lightly before yawning. She pulled on his arm so he would cuddle closer to her.

"Now sleep," she commanded.

"Mmmkay," he relented and settled in, his arm wrapped protectively around her and one long leg firmly wedged between her thighs. He brushed his lips over the frizzy hair on top of her head. "Goodnight, baby."

"Mmm, night."

She woke feeling refreshed as the morning light filtered in through the partially-drawn curtains. A smile tugged on her lips as she stretched within the burrow of the surrounding sheets. Mid-stretch, she froze when she didn't feel the expected warm body next to hers. She sat up and looked around at the simple room, desperate for the sight of something familiar. The walls were bare. No posters, no pictures, no color beside hospital-room off-white. Her clothes were scattered on the dark grey carpet where she had left them. The drawers to the dresser on the other side of the room were open with their contents hanging haphazardly out of them. To her right a framed picture, which she knew housed the three of them smiling and waving, lay face down on the bedside table. She looked down at her pillow. It only had one indent in it.

The realization hit her hard and she fell back onto the bed sobbing. It had been a month and she still dreamt of him climbing into bed with her only to wake up alone and cold.

He was gone.

They were gone.

There was no one to hold her, or tease her, or plan adventures with her, or listen to her lecture, or argue with her. They had been her i raison d'etre /i . No one was capable of giving her any comfort. Her only solace was his lingering scent on the faded orange shirt, the only thing of him that was left. The only thing of either of them that was left.

After allowing herself another moment to grieve, she grit her teeth and sat up, still breathing raggedly. She wouldn't waste their sacrifices to wallow in grief and self-pity. One threw himself in front of a killing curse meant for her. The other pulled Voldemort with him into the veil. In their last moments, she had seen the love in their eyes, deep warm brown and radiant green eyes firmly fixed on her. They had loved her differently--each in his own way--but both had loved her enough to die for her.

Her face, now dry, hardened with determination. She cast aside the sheets as she got out of bed and began getting ready to face another day.

She had to live enough for all three of them.


End file.
